


Alien Ducklings

by grimmfairy



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Earth-1, Human Experimentation, Hurt/Comfort, Leonard Snart Lives, Leonard Snart is a Softie, Leonard is Alive, M/M, Protective Leonard Snart, Protective Mick Rory, and helps mick with his new aliens, god help the next person to insult mick, his story will come out too, mick rory has two alien children he didn't know he needed, space travel, the team are jerks, then clark, they call him kal for awhile, traumatized kara and clark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-08
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-07 06:34:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8787358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grimmfairy/pseuds/grimmfairy
Summary: During a mission to retrieve future tech provided by Eobard from a secretive military facility, Mick finds Earth-1 Kara being experimented on with her cousin. He breaks her and her cousin out and takes them to the Waverider. Since he’s the first human to show them any kind of kindness (aka freeing them and taking too much pleasure in destroying the lab, time-altering effects be damned), Kara and Clark sort of imprint on him. Like baby ducklings.This their story based on my tumblr prompt.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: http://grimm-fairy.tumblr.com/post/154020433970/before-i-fall-asleep-and-forget

The target was the definition of nondescript at first glance. Gray-ish walls, half-assed gardens leading to the front door, a gate that required an ID badge and retinal scan to open. It looked like an average place of business or government office. Not exactly the type of place one would expect to find the kind of future tech that could create super soldiers by 2066. 

Gideon's database pulled up the blueprints for the building, and Sara spent almost ten minutes describing the state of the art security cameras with night vision and motion detection, mercenary guards, and multiple internal security checkpoints. 

"What the hell are they hiding in there?" Nate asked, peering intently at one of the schematics. 

"Whatever it is, it'll be in that room." Mick pointed at the blueprints. He could almost feel the disdain rolling of Stein like a physical force.

"I don't see how you possibly know that," Stein sniffed. "I suggest we listen to Sara."

"And I suggest you listen to the professional thieves," Snart drawled from his perch. Of course he had picked up on why Mick signaled that room out. It was a "storage" room, but it was ringed by intense security measures, patrolled by guards at all times, and showed high levels of power consumption. Mick smirked at the scandalized look Stein sent him. The older man wasn't completely sold on allowing Snart to roam freely yet.

"Okay, listen up," Sara ordered. She began to lay out a relatively well-formed plan to infiltrate the base with help and fabricated IDs courtesy of Gideon, and a distraction caused by Ray sabotaging the security systems so an alarm in the corner of the building would go off and draw the guards away. Mick would have changed a few things, probably called the hood guy from Star City for backup, but it would work. "Leonard, stay here."

"If you're breaking into a secure facility, you need both of us. I'm not staying on the ship again," Snart argued. 

"Yes, you are. Someone needs to watch the Waverider, and something goes wrong we'll need backup" Sara placated. Snart glared at her, the familiar frustrations over Mick's treatment in his absence simmering just below the surface. Mick was almost tempted to say something, but years of experience had given a good sense of when that would do more harm than good. "I promise, you'll get your chance, Leonard."

Snart turned on his heels and stalked off dramatically, his fingers almost imperceptibly twitching at his sides. Sara was definitely going to be missing her booze stash tonight.

"Mick, please try not to wander off again. We need to do this right," Sara said, looking at Mick. "No going off on your own."

"Whatever."

* * *

Mick found the storage room and easily broke in. All the alarms were going off anyways and most of the guards had flocked to their initial entry point only to be taken on by the rest of his team. It had been easy to sneak away. The room he found himself in was sterile and white, with expensive looking machinery lining the walls and an examination table bolted to the floor in the middle. On one wall, he saw two cylinders large enough to fit fully grown men inside, and those were connected to some type of generator. 

All of these observations were background noise, the result of many years with Snart constantly badgering him to take in his surroundings quickly. His focus was on the table, where two figures in white were attempting to block his view of what was on the table. The table was bathed in red light from an overhead apparatus.

"What are you doing here? Get out! This is a clean room!" One of the lab coats shouted. She had a somewhat distorted voice from the mask covering her mouth, and Mick grinned at her.

"Got lost looking for the bathroom," He sneered. "Whatcha got there?"

Mick advanced on them, and the scientists shrank back when it became clear that no backup was forthcoming. Mick pushed them aside and looked down at the subject they had been hovering over. It was girl, maybe early twenties, with close-cropped hair and a pale, almost sickly pallor. She was awake and staring at him blearily with pain-filled eyes, and she was covered only by a thin paper gown. The glint of some sort of metal cuffs around her wrists and a matching collar around her neck caught his attention briefly. Mick stared at her a moment longer.

"Supergirl?" 

"Sir, get back. That is a very dangerous-" The male scientist started to say. Mick turned and growled at him, brandishing the heat gun. He turned back to the familiar girl on the table.

"You wanna get out of here?" Mick asked her. She looked at him wearily, like she had been drugged but not enough. God, what was her name? Her real name. He had heard Red say it plenty of times. "Kara?"

"Another trick?" She whispered. Mick grimaced. This wasn't the Supergirl he had met. This was a different one, from his universe. Or Earth. Or whatever. He had only gotten the short version of her backstory.

"No, I'm a...friend."

"You can't-that is government property!" The woman screeched. Kara winced, but she stared up at Mick with a small spark of hope.

"Yeah, well I'm a thief. Get her off of this thing," Mick ordered. They didn't move, so he shot a small burst of flame over their heads. "Now!"

That got them moving. Always did, Mick thought fondly. The restraints around her wrists and neck popped open and she shakily sat up. Mick helped her stand and supported her with one hand and hefted the heat gun with the other. 

"Wait," Kara said, her voice a little stronger. "I can't leave without him."

"Him?"

The scientist's paled further, and their gaze flicked to the large tubes by the wall. Kara pushed away from Mick and walked unsteadily to the second one. She looked back at Mick imploringly. 

"What's the code?" Mick growled. Kara punched in the numbers as they were given, and the tube opened. Inside, Mick could see a figure standing in what looked like a rudimentary stasis field, under more the strange red light. He was tanner, with short dark black hair. He looked to be about the same age as Kara, maybe a bit younger. The scientists bolted for the door while he was distracted, but that wasn't really his concern.

"Kal?" Kara said, gently touching him. "Kal, wake up, we're leaving."

Mick was getting antsy. Reinforcements had to be coming soon.

"Come on, let's go." The heat gun erupted, and the all of the fancy machines ignited. "Can he walk?"

* * *

"Where the hell is Mick?" Firestorm yelled as they made a dead sprint to the ship. Snart was draped lazily on the steps leading to Rip's office when the Legends, sans Mick, thundered aboard.

"I told you I should have come with."

"I told him not to wander off," Sara snapped. Snart smirked lazily at them. "Gideon, has the future changed?"

"Yes, Captain Lance. The aberration has been corrected."

"Well at least we got that right," Ray groused. He was still smarting from the the electrical short he had caused while trying to disable the security hub. Instead, he had managed to set everything off.

"Mr. Rory is approaching the ship now," Gideon said in her strangely cheerful voice. Stein sighed in mock relief.

"Excellent, for a moment I thought we'd be forced to leave him behind," Stein grumbled. Jax rolled his eyes. Of course Mick had wandered off.

Ray's attention was pulled to the screen where Gideon had zoomed in on Mick walking up the ramp to the ship's cargo hold. 

"Uh...guys?" He pointed at the screen. Sara swore.

"Mr. Rory is in the infirmary," Gideon said helpfully. "Mr. Snart has already joined them.

"He was just-" Ray pointed at the empty space where Leonard had been sitting. "How does he do that?"

* * *

Kara was staring in trepidation at her surroundings as Mick carefully placed his charge in one of the chairs. Kal, as Kara had called him, was barely conscious.

"How's your back?" Mick finished setting Kal down and turned to Kara. She had taken two bullets when Mick was running, blocking them from hitting him or Kal. They had bounced off but Mick saw her wince. Kara shrugged, pulling at the hem of her gown nervously.

"How...how do you know my name?" 

"That's a weird story for another time," Mick said. The door opened, revealing Snart. Kara flinched back, as if to hide behind Mick's bulk. Ironic, considering that she seemed to be fairly invulnerable.

"You might want to hide. Sara's on the war path," Snart said, his eyes flickering over the two new people. "I see you've escalated to kidnapping."

Mick turned to Kara. 

"Stay here, okay?"

Kara nodded. Mick followed Snart out into the hallway, intercepting the rest of the Legends. Snart stood just behind him for his version of moral support.

"You have exactly two seconds to start talking, Mick!" Sara shouted. "You kidnapped two people? What the hell were you thinking?"

"I didn't kidnap 'em, I saved 'em. They were being experimented on," Mick said, cutting off Sara's rant. "And one of them is Supergirl. But the one from our world, not the one we met."

Sara let out a long sigh as everyone began firing questions at Mick. How could he be certain? Were they hurt? How did they end up in that facility? Were they connected to the aberration? Did Mick even consider the dangers of bringing two strangers onto the ship? Stein finally pushed to the front of the crowd. 

"What's done is done. We need to think about what we're going to do with them," Stein said. "We can't very well keep them here."

"Why not?" Mick fired back. 

"We should call Barry to take them. We don;t know what happened to them, or where their loyalties lie. We don't know if we can trust them," Stein countered. "She isn't our friend."

"She isn't our enemy, either," Snart interjected. "Besides, do you really think no one will be looking for them?"

"Guys, just stop," Sara ordered. "We're going to Central City. They can help us find a way to contain them."

"Contain?" Mick spat. "She's been contained for who knows how long, and you want to just...put her back in a cage? No."

"Mick-"

"No!" Mick snarled, taking a step forward. A curl of protective instinct rose in his stomach. He had liked the Supergirl he met. But that girl didn't need anyone's protection. This one did. 

"Have any of you considered, maybe, just talking to our guests?" Snart drawled. 

"Actually, Kara has requested that only Mick be allowed to see her," Gideon piped up. Several shocked faces turned towards Mick.

Mick smiled smugly at them. 

"Well, I need to talk to her." Sara crossed her arms. "We need to assess whether this is the right place for them."

"Give them a chance to decompress," Ray said, breaking the staredown between Mick and Sara. Sara finally walked away, leaving the rest of them to do what they wanted. Stein began to walk towards the infirmary. 

"Where are you going?" Snart asked, blocking his path. Stein looked startled.

"I am not going to waste this opportunity to meet the Earth-1 counterpart of our comrade," Stein answered as if it were obvious. Mick snorted.

"No."

"No?" Stein repeated incredulously. 

"No. Five minutes ago you questioned whether we could trust her, and she heard every word," Mick pointed out. "She has super hearing, remember?"

Stein backed up a step, as if he was surprised that Mick had been paying attention when Kara rattled off her list of powers. He debated pushing past the criminals, but eventually he turned around and left. Snart was watching him intently when Mick looked at him.

"What did they do to them?" Snart asked. He had rarely seen Mick this protective of strangers. It must have been bad.

"I don't know. I didn't ask."

The infirmary door slid open at Mick's touch. Kara was standing next to Kal, holding his hand, and staring at him.

"This is my partner, Leonard Snart," Mick said, awkwardly pointing over his shoulder. "Can he come in?"

Kara studied Snart for a moment, and nodded. Snart stepped into the room and the door closed behind him, coming a stop several feet away from them. He knew the look in Kara's eyes, the protective way she stood over the young man whose hand she was holding.

"So. You wanna tell us what happened to you?" Mick asked. Kara hesitated, then nodded slowly.

"It's a long story."

Kal groaned, and his eyes opened fully for the first time.

"Kara...?"

"Hey, hey, take it slow, we're okay," Kara soothed, her attention diverted for the moment. Kal looked around fearfully, until his gaze landed on Mick.

"You," He said. "I remember you. You...you were there."

"He carried you," Kara supplied. "It's okay, he's our friend."

Mick watched as Kara gathered him into her arms and they hugged tightly. In that moment, he knew he was screwed. 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

"Our planet, Krypton, was destroyed when I was only a child. In order to protect us, my aunt and uncle sent me to Earth with their infant son," Kara paused to indicate Kal, who was now sitting up in his chair while Gideon ran scans. "To protect him. But when my pod landed..."

Kara shuddered. 

"You were found by the government," Snart suggested. Kara nodded, looking down at her hand where it was entwined with Kal's. "How did they keep you there? From what I understand, your...people are invulnerable."

"We have some weaknesses..." Kara paused. She looked over at Mick, who was leaning against the doorway to keep anyone from barging in. Mick tried to look reassuring, though he wasn't sure if he succeeded. He had a basic knowledge of Kryptonions from his time as Kronos, and from meeting Kara. "Once they knew what worked, they exploited our weakness, improved on them. We were kept separated whenever we were brought out for training or...other things, so that even if one of us did escape, the other would be...well, we never had that chance anyways."

Kara looked away when she finished speaking. A sense of guilt seemed to hang over her shoulders once she mentioned their weaknesses, heavier than even she could hold. Mick knew that look, had seen it in the mirror when he was a teenager. Kara must have been the one to tell their tormentors everything when she first arrived. And why wouldn't she? Children were trusting, and the government lies. Kal had remained silent, simply staring at Mick with a curious glint in his eyes. Mick got the feeling that he didn't speak much. Snart and him would probably get along well if he could get them to trust his partner.

"I have completed my scan of Kal's physiology. Beside dehydration and low blood sugar, he appears to be suffering from red sun exposure and low-grade Kryptonite poisoning-" Gideon began. Mick cut her off when Kara suddenly looked panicked. 

"Is he going to be alright?"

"Yes, Mr. Rory. With time, and some UV radiation, he should make a full recovery in a few hours."

Mick sighed. At least that was something positive. When he had first picked the kid up, felt his fluttering pulse and his weak shallow breaths, he was afraid he was too late. It was hard to believe that these two scared, skinny waifs were actually superheroes in another world. But he saw the fire in their eyes when he tore a path through the facility to get them out, even though it was again buried deep down inside. Kara was plucking nervously at the hem of her hospital gown again, and it occurred to him that he should probably have offered some clothes before interrogating them. 

"Come on, let's get you some clothes," Mick gestured for them to follow. Kal stood and walked with Kara supporting some his weight with an arm around his waist. Snart disappeared towards the kitchen with a glance at Mick. The replicator room was already pulling up options for them to choose from when they arrived, though Kara and Kal mostly looked confused.

"Well, go on. Can't have you running around half-naked," Mick grunted, pointing towards the sheltered areas where Gideon took scans for measurements. It dawned on him that perhaps he was assuming too much, that they would have any kind of idea of what sort of clothing they would prefer.

"If you would prefer, I can assist them with choosing items," Gideon chimed in. 

Mick told them he'd be outside while they were fitted and clothed, and to come get him when they were done. As he waited in the hallway, he could only wonder what the hell he was doing. Kara was an adult, early twenties, and Kal was obviously close to that age as well, and yet they were almost children in some aspects. If what he assumed was correct, they had only seen the inside of that facility for many years. No media, no friends, just each other and whatever asshole had decided to experiment on them for the day. When the door opened again, Mick did a double take. 

Snart was _never_ going to let him live this down.

Both of them were clad in almost the exact same outfit as each other, and their clothes closely mirrored those that he was currently wearing, down to the heavy black boots. Loose, well worn jeans (at least in appearance, since all replicated clothes were brand new), white undershirts and long sleeved Henleys (red for Kal, mint green for Kara), and black jackets that looked uncomfortably like the one he was currently wearing adorned the two cousins. Kara was also wearing a loose mint green knit beanie over her short hair. It was vaguely unnerving (in a weirdly good way) to have two innocents mirroring him like he was something special or a role model to be copied. But Mick didn't say anything in the face of the cautious excitement over their new clothes. He  _was_ going to make sure Gideon kept a recording of each Legends' face when they saw the resemblance.

"Alright, let's get you something to eat," Mick said, turning on his heel. Kal fell into step on his left, Kara on his right, both of them seemingly at ease with just Mick around. They passed Jax in the hallway, and the kid did the smart thing and merely inclined his head at them. Kara and Kal moved closer to Mick instead of responding. Snart was waiting for them with an array of food choices laid out, most of them healthy and some from Ray's stash of junk food. There were also mugs of Gideon-replicated hot cocoa set out, steaming and filled with some of the little marshmallows that Mick had picked up for him the last time they were in the right time period to get them. 

"Something tells me you need a lot of calories," Snart said to them, choosing for the moment not to say anything about their fashion choices.

They looked at Mick, and it took a moment for him to realize that they were asking for permission. Mick nodded at them, and watched as they sat at the table and began to eat. They ate slowly at first, occasionally looking around as if afraid of being punished, but soon they were devouring everything and giggling together as they tried Ray's candy. Snart caught Mick's eye, and then looked pointedly at Kara and Kal, then back at Mick. He plucked at his jacket sleeve lightly, and a smirk rolled over his face. Mick shot him a dirty look. He knew it was just a matter of time, but he was grateful that Snart also seemed reluctant to hurt the super-strong aliens' feelings.

"How did you find us anyways?" Kara asked finally, pushing away her empty plate. The third one. Mick shrugged.

"Wasn't trying to. We were trying to find something else, something from the, ah, future," Mick explained. "That's what we do. Travel through time to keep history from changing. The building you were being kept in was the source of evil supersoldiers that start a war in the future, and we were there to steal whatever it was that they using."

"They found an advanced gene editor, one that was decades ahead of today's tech," Snart added. "I assume, based on what the supersoldiers were able to do, that you and your cousin were the source of the genes they used to create their monsters."

Kara looked confused, sick, and a little afraid. 

"That's not...you travel through time?" Kara asked. Mick cocked an eyebrow.

"You just glossed right over the gene tech thing."

"On Krypton, before it was outlawed, we had something very similar. I get that part of your story. But...time travel?" Kara sipped from her cocoa, the second refill that Snart had provided. He always a bit soft on kids that reminded him of Lisa. And his younger self.

"This is a time ship from the future," Mick said. "It's a long, boring story that I'm sure the nerds would be happy to provide if you ask."

Kara didn't look thrilled at the prospect of talking to the crew. Mick got that, he often felt the same way. He wondered how long it would take for someone to at least try to convince them he was big dumb animal. It never seemed to take long. Kal was starting to yawn, and while the food seemed to have brought some color back to their faces, he still looked sallow. 

"Gideon, are there any rooms with UV light that aren't the infirmary?" Mick asked. He knew that if he had spent his life being prodded at in a sterile room, he wouldn't want to stay in another one for his night of freedom.

"Yes, Mr. Rory. I can utilize UV radiation in any of the sleeping quarters, though I would recommend that you are not present due to concerns of skin damage from the high level I will use."

"Come on, you look like you're about to sleep in your food," Mick said, waving for Kal to come with him. Kara looked conflicted for a moment, before sighing.

"I should go with him. They had me under a red sun generator when you found me, so the bullets left pretty big bruises. A little rest would help me heal faster," She said. Snart could sense the underlying need to remain close to Kal as well, but didn't comment. Mick shrugged and led them away. Snart began to clean up the detritus of the feast he had prepared for them, and pulled a beer out for Mick. He was going to need one after being adored for so long. Snart grinned to himself.

They looked like mini-Micks. He would have to teach them a few things about style if Mick wanted to keep them around long-term. Personally, Snart liked them. Obviously, they were strong and fast, but more than that, they were unbreakable in the face of a living hell. If he ever got the chance, he was definitely introducing them to Lisa.

* * *

Mick didn't want to talk about the way Kara had stared at him with wide eyes as he programmed Gideon to spit out a few sets of pajamas for them, and some extra article of clothing. He also didn't want to talk about how the room he situated them in was his own, on extra cots that he fished from storage. In his (weak) defense, the other crew members were far more likely to sneak into one of the few unoccupied rooms on the ship while Mick was distracted. His own room, however, held the privilege of being mostly off-limits by reputation.  

Snart was still in the kitchen, waiting with a beer and smug grin.

"Don't say it."

"What are you referring to?" Snart asked mock-innocently. "The fact that you seem very attached to two aliens you've just very heroically rescued? That they seem to hold you up as a fashion icon?"

"Shut up."

"Make me."

The easy back and forth was soothing to Mick's rattled sense of self, as annoying as it was. He had missed his partner, and though he could feel the way the others stared at Snart like he was a ticking time bomb, he didn't care. And after watching the way he acted around Kara and Kal, all soft-voiced and making hot cocoa, he was more than ready to stop thinking of him as _Snart_ and start calling him Len again. Snart was a thief, a villain, a Legion of Doom member. Snart was the man he used to be. The man that worked to make two strange traumatized aliens feel safe was more than that.

Len was the man he had lost in the Oculus explosion. Len was the one he wanted back. 

"I can hear you thinking," Len drawled, unconcerned with Mick's open staring. "You said it yourself, they need to be protected."

"Len..." Mick started, causing a half-startled look to pass over his partner's face. He was so bad with words when it really mattered. "Len, I...thank you."

Len studied him for a moment, then a familiar lazy smiled stretched over his face.

"I do like a thank you."

 


	3. Chapter 3

To say that dinner was awkward that night would have been an understatement. Sara was alternating between looking like she wanted to kill Mick, and looking like she wanted to sneak off to see their guests. Mick had already brought them dinner and while they had roused themselves at the sight of the plates of spaghetti, it was clear that they had no intention of getting out bed. Jax and Ray were attempting to fill the silence with some tech talk about something or other on the Waverider, Nate was pretending to understand what they were saying, and Amaya mostly looked down at her food with the occasional calculating glance at Mick. Len was currently meeting Stein's disapproving gaze with a knowing smirk. Nobody reveled in annoying people more than Len, that was for sure.

"I'm sorry, but I have to say something," Stein suddenly snapped. 

"Apology accepted," Mick said, grinning widely at the scathing glare that directed at him.

"Do we really want these two criminals of all people handling our guests exclusively?" Stein continued. "I believe that perhaps it's time for someone a little more respectable to take over."

Len glanced over at Mick, his face a mask of bored indifference to untrained eye. But Mick could see the signs of anger in the pinched set of his eyes.

"You hear that Mick? He doesn't think we're respectable."

Sara rolled her eyes. Could they not have _one_ dinner without squabbling?

"I think what Professor Stein was _trying_ to say was that we really do need to assess what the correct course of action is, and we can't do that if you keep them holed up in your room," Ray said cautiously, gauging Stein's response. The old man could do the cold, passive-aggressive shoulder move with the best of them.

"You think I'm _making_ them stay in there, haircut? You think they're my prisoners?" Mick asked, watching with vindictive joy as Ray's face fell and he began sputtering out half-hearted backpedals. "Believe or not, some people find my company enjoyable." 

"Debatable," Sara grumbled. Then she straightened in her seat. "Mick, I really do have to talk to them. We need to know what happened and whether there's any danger to them or ourselves in having them on board."

Mick held her gaze for a few moments, then narrowed his eyes slightly. He didn't like the idea of interrogating them. He had barely been able to wake them for dinner, and he was pretty sure there wouldn't be much of a break between eating and going back to sleep. The sight of them curled up on their cots, sleeping peacefully, had fanned the small protective flame in his chest and he was even more aware of _how screwed_ he was. At least Len was on his side.

"Do you really want to force them to relive everything now? They just got out," Jax interjected. Mick decided not to take it personally that Jax didn't mention that the only reason they even knew about this Supergirl was because _Mick_ had found them. Sara seemed to make a decision and relaxed her rigid posture, but her face was stern.

"I'll wait until tomorrow. But we're going to visit Star Labs afterwards and see if we can get a message to Supergirl," Sara said. "I think they should meet."

Mick considered this, and finally nodded. That sounded reasonable enough, even if he didn't really see the point of dragging Supergirl into this. It wasn't like she was the same Kara he had slumbering in his room. The rest of dinner was awkwardly silent, though Mick felt quite satisfied. Nothing quite like getting his point across with minimal backlash for once. When he returned to his room after checking with Gideon that the UV lights were offline again, he found that Kal was still sleeping soundly and Kara had woken when he entered the room. She rubbed her eyes and looked at him with sleep-bleary eyes as he crossed his room to grab a few changes of clothes.

"Where are you going?" Kara asked quietly. Mick shrugged.

"Crashing in a spare room tonight."

"Why?" Kara asked, confused. 

"I don't wanna keep you up with my snoring," Mick said, avoiding her gaze as he carefully locked the heatgun away. Not that a metal box would withstand curious aliens, but still. It was the thought. Truthfully, he didn't want to make them uncomfortable, and the other spare rooms were grey and cold at first. It would be easier for them to just stay here until they landed somewhere with a department store.

"Oh." Kara looked down at her hands where they curled around the blanket. "You don't have to leave because of us."

"Don't worry about it, kid. We'll get you some stuff soon and then you can have your own room," Mick said, waving off her concern. "If you need something, just ask Gideon and she'll tell you where to find me."

Kara nodded, and settled back down into her blankets. Mick wondered how long if had been since she felt safe enough to sleep like that. Or if she was even allowed to do so. He meandered around the Waverider before coming to a stop at the room next to Len's. He figured of all people, Len would object the least to having him as a temporary neighbor. He settled his things around the sparse room and decided he wanted another beer. If Len wanted to join him, he would, but Mick wasn't holding out much hope. The events earlier in the day seemed to have used up Len's daily quota for socializing. Hopefully he wasn't hiding in a crawl space somewhere again. Sara might not be able to pull her punch a second time if he popped up behind her again.

* * *

 Len was sitting in the cargo bay, his back against the wall and a crate in front of him serving as a makeshift table. After tonight's dinner, he didn't really want to see any of his so-called "friends" for at least five hours. The pieces of the cold gun were laid out before him for a final inspection, now that he had managed to remove the "upgrades" that Ray had added. And then destroyed. The original cold core was toast, but Mick had somehow managed to finesse a new one from Gideon to replace it while Len was still...out of commission. Though there were a few new parts and some wiring that wasn't there before, the cold gun was as close to "good as new" as possible.

Len looked up when he heard soft footsteps come to a stop outside the open door. Kal was standing there staring at him uncertainly, clad in jeans and his henley, though the black jacket was no where to be seen and the kid seemed to have forgotten to wear his shoes. It allowed Len to better assess Kal's physique, and what he saw was concerning on several levels. Though he would hesitate to use the world "emaciated", Kal's muscles were underdeveloped in size for the amount of strength he possessed, and yet from what Len could see, Kal was the type of lean that was only achieved by rigorous (dangerous) exercise. 

"Looking for Mick?" Len asked, noting that Kal seemed too uncertain to ask first. "He's probably in the kitchen."

Kal nodded, and hesitated when he turned to leave. Len saw the way his curious eyes landed on the cold gun parts. Interesting.

"You can come in, if you like. I'm just about to put the cold gun back together," Len offered, curious to see how Kal would react. He didn't think that Kal necessarily trusted him, at least not as much as Mick, but he didn't appear to be afraid. So Len went back to what he was doing, meticulously checking each part and cleaning those that needed it. Tentative footsteps told him that Kal was inching his way closer, bit by bit, until he was standing just shy of two feet away. Kal observed as Len carefully slotted each piece together, and jumped slightly when Len flicked it on. The hum of the cold core filled the room.

"What does it do?" Kal asked softly, as if unsure how his question would be received. Len powered it down, and held the gun with both hands.

"Freezes whatever I point it at. Handy in fight, don't you think?" Len said, finally looking up to see Kal staring at him. 

"Does Mick have one?"

Len suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Or laugh.

"No, quite the opposite. He has a hand-held flame thrower," Len explained as he finally tucked the cold gun away in its box. "That's why we work so well together."

"Are you a thief too?" Kal asked. Kara had told him that Mick was a thief. At least, that's what he said in the lab. Len let a half-smile cross his face.

"Yes. Does that bother you?"

"No," Kal answered. He was being honest, Len could tell. It was oddly refreshing. 

"So. Why were you looking for Mick?" Len asked when it became clear that Kal wasn't going to say anything else. Kal ducked his head, blushing slightly with embarrassment. 

"I...I was scared."

Ah, Len thought. He knew that voice. That was the "I just had a nightmare" voice.

"Gideon, where's Mick?" Len called. Kal perked up slightly. Gideon informed them that Mick was currently sleeping in his makeshift room. "Do you want to wake him up?"

Kal shook his head.

"I'm better."

"Do you want to go back to bed?" Len asked. Kal shook his head again. "Alright. What would you like to do?"

* * *

When Mick found his room devoid of young aliens, he was tempted to panic slightly but Gideon quickly informed him that they were with Mr. Snart in the cargo bay. As he neared his destination, he could hear them moving around and low voices. When he stepped into the bay, he found something he would have never expected.

"Are you teaching them to lift wallets?" Mick asked, amusement bleeding into his voice. Kara was wearing a bright smile and Kal looked mildly perturbed, but Len was smirking like the cat that ate the canary as he told Kara and Kal to show him what they'd been practicing. His jacket had many pockets, and from the relative ease with which they were practicing the moves, Mick figured they had been going at it for a few hours. Their lifts were shaky and amateurish, but it made Mick oddly proud. 

"Stein is gonna have a stroke when he finds out you're turning them into thieves," Mick warned teasingly. Len made sure his facial expression showed exactly how much he didn't care. It was weird to see Supergirl learning to be a criminal, but then again, this wasn't Supergirl. This was Kara. Maybe he should feel guiltier about it, or try to steer them towards heroics like their doppelgangers. Maybe.

"They're like my padawans," Len said, unable to resist at least a small reference. Mick rolled his eyes. Kara and Kal looked at each other, then back at Len with twin confused expressions.

"What's that?"

Len froze, and Mick was all too aware of that look. 

"I think you kids better go clean yourselves up and grab some snacks," Mick sighed. "We're having a movie marathon."

* * *

"Gideon, where is Mick?" Sara asked. The man hadn't shown up for breakfast, neither had Len or Kara and her cousin, and she was concerned. It had seemed like an acceptable choice to allow Mick to handle them for the moment, since he was the one that rescued them and established that early bond. But he was a criminal, and Snart was...well, he was Snart. She was sure they wouldn't hurt Kara and Kal but she was also sure they would be a bad influence.

"Mr. Rory is currently in the screening room with Mr. Snart, Miss Kara and Mr. Kal."

That was unexpected.

"What are they doing in there?" Sara asked curiously.

"Currently, they are watching 'The Empire Strikes Back'."

"What?" 

"Mr. Snart informed me that they were having a movie marathon, and they were not to be disturbed," Gideon replied.

"Two criminals are watching Star Wars with a couple of aliens?" Jax sounded almost jealous. "That's the start of a weird movie all its own."

"We can't continue to allow them to stay in the company of such men," Stein interjected. "This is Supergirl we're talking about here. She's a hero!"

"Yeah, but...who's to say if destinies remain the same from universe to universe? I mean, so far everything about Kara's life is different here than on the other earth," Ray said, his face taking on a faraway gaze. "Maybe in this universe, she isn't Supergirl. Maybe on her earth, I'm a barista and Jax is a rock star. Who's to say that your life in one universe has any correlation with life in a different one?"

"And the only thing we know about Kal is that on Supergirl's earth, he's also a hero. But I doubt he went through years of government sanctioned torture before becoming one." Jax finished. "Is it really fair of us to expect them to live up to our expectations?"

"Well, I still think we should intervene before Mr. Rory has time to corrupt them," Stein sniffed. Jax rolled his eyes.

"At least let them finish Empire," Ray said. It was sacrilege to interrupt Empire. 

Sara shrugged, though she was beginning to worry about the way Stein seemed stuck on the idea of Kara becoming Supergirl. She knew better than anyone that nobody's destiny is set in stone.

 

 

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Sweet Caroline](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8811937) by [nirejseki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nirejseki/pseuds/nirejseki)




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